First Dance

Billy danced this morninghis very first time. He grippedhis fingers through the meshin the playpen, pulled himselfup onto his feet

With eyes clinched closed,

his head arched back, heshook his diapered rear

He burst forth in squeal

as he bounced up and downto a James Brown song on the radio

-- Shirley Snodey

Shirley Snodey is a writer of poetry, fiction and song lyrics. A former student at CCAC, she is currently a homemaker and lives in East Liberty. Many writers featured in Chapter & Verse are guests of Prosody, produced by Jan Beatty and Ellen Wadey. Prosody airs every Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. on WYEP 91.3 FM.